


Lights Down Low

by Munya Enany (blackbeakk)



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: ACoTaR Modern AU, Baking, Christmas fic, F/M, Fluff, Mutual Pining, azriel can’t cook for his LIFE, elain saves his ass, oops the power is out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 15:14:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16976982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackbeakk/pseuds/Munya%20Enany
Summary: Azriel is  *trying to* cook Christmas dinner and Elain saves the dayand then the power goes outfluff ensues





	Lights Down Low

**Author's Note:**

> Elriel secret Santa! Find me on tumblr @highartist-munya

Azriel really, really sucked at cooking. And baking. Hell, he could barely boil water. Basically, he was incompetent when it came to anything requiring an oven. 

Cassian usually cooked for Christmas, but he was stuck at the office with Nesta - not that Cass minded in the slightest - and everyone was snowed in. So, Cassian called Az and told him that dinner would have to be up to him. Rhys and Feyre were away on vacation anyway, it was just going to be Nesta and Elain joining them, no big deal. The instructions are on the table, Cass told him, all you have to do is follow them. Easy peasy. 

Not easy peasy, Azriel thought to himself. Definitely not easy peasy. He had no idea how to separate an egg, or how long the butter was supposed to be softened before it as ready. Thankfully, dinner was basically ready and all Az had to do was pop it in the oven. But, that still left dessert, which Cass always went all out on. Sugar cookies, cake, brownies, and cheesecake squares; all made from scratch. 

Sighing, Azriel took another look at the instructions for the cake, and then his batter. He squinted. That is not how Cassian’s cake batter looks. In fact, he’s pretty sure that six year old Cass would’ve made better cake batter.

Oh well. 

He reached above the counter, searching the cabinets for the bundt pan - which, by the way, he had to google to figure out what it was. Ah, there it is. Sitting at the very top, stacked on top of various pots and pans, is the oddly shaped piece Az needed. He reached up further, and grabbed the edge. 

Then his phone rang. Loudly. 

Now, make no mistake, like everyone else under the age of 30, Az usually had his phone on vibrate. But, he turned it on for tonight in case Cass had needed anything urgent. 

Unfortunately, the loud sound startled Az so much so much so that he pulled the pan down quickly, consequently knocking down the entire cabinet-full in the process with a loud cRASH!

Azriel just stared at the plethora of kitchenware on the ground in silent defeat. 

There was a knock at the door. Followed by, “Az? I heard something crash, are you alright?”

Elain. 

He crossed the room to the apartment door and opened it for his friend. 

“Everything’s fine I just - 

He was cut off by Elain when she pushed past him gently to see the mess in the kitchen and said, “what the fuck Az?” A sheepish pause when she turned to look at him. “I knew you were relatively useless in the kitchen but oh my this is …”

Azriel rubbed the back of his neck and mumbled out what may have been able to pass as a half explanation.

Elain didn’t even look at him. She just got to work. Moved all the pans back to the cupboard - this proved to be fairly difficult at her short height, but she managed - and immediately began on the desserts.

Az just watched as Elain moved through the kitchn, pouring and sifting and mixing and a whole bunch of things that he didn’t even know the name for. 

Within the next two hours, Elain had finished the bundt cake, the cookies, brownies, and was taking the cheesecake squares out of the oven. She placed them on a hotmat sitting on the counter, the delicious smell wafting out of the oven throughout the apartment. Az had done everything that Elain needed him to (mainly consisting of him wiping down the table and putting everything away) and just as she set down the pan, he came up behind her and exhaled deeply, thanking whatever god was listening that Christmas dinner wouldn’t be a bust. 

“Elain,” he said, “you are a lifesaver.”

 

She spun around and grinned at him, “I know,” she said simply.

A phone rang out loudly - it was Elain’s, god knows Azriel didn’t get many calls, definitely not two in the span of a few hours. She picked it up, telling Az that it was from Nesta, and hit the speaker button before going back to cutting the squares.

“Elain?” Nesta’s voice came, “are you at home?”

“No I’m at Cass and Az’s, I’m helping him with dinner,” she responded to her sister before asking, “when are you guys gonna be back?”

A pause. 

“Nesta?”

 

“Yeah, uhm, here’s the thing,” Az gave Elain a look that said ‘this isn’t going to be good’ and she frowned at him. “Cass and I don’t know if we’ll make it back in time.”

Elain’s eyebrows furrowed at her older sister’s words. “What do you mean you won’t be back in time? It’s not snowing that badly is it?”

“When was the last time you guys took a look out the window?” Nesta asked incredulously, “it's a blizzard out there!”

 

The pair shared a glance, and both immediately hurried towards the window. Azriel threw open the curtains and they stood in stunned silence; staring at the storm outside, so intense you could barely make out the buildings across the street. 

“Guys?” Came Cassian’s voice from the phone. “Are you still there?”

Snapping out of it, Az rushed back to his friend. “Yeah, we’re here. Don’t worry about it, it's not like we’re gonna finish all the food or anything. You made a feast, man.”

Cass laughed at that, “save me a plate of - holy shit!”

“Cass?” Elain asked, concern laced in her voice. “Is everything okay?”

Nesta’s voice came through this time, “the power just went out here. Everything’s working over there?”

“Yeah, nothing on this end,” Az responded. And then, as if in response to him, everything in the apartment went dark. Azriel sighed. “Scratch that,” he told his friends, “power’s out here too.”

_

Azriel and Elain got to work finding the blackout supplies quickly. He gathered candles and matches while Elain set out to find blankets and sweatshirts. “It's gonna be freezing once the heat goes out,” she’d said.

She returned from her apartment - right next door to Az and Cass - in a few minutes with a mountain of blankets that looked bigger than her own body. Az smiled warmly when he opened the door to that sight. She dumped her pile on the couch and tossed a sweater at Azriel.

Once they were done, Azriel made them both plates of dinner - he had finished that before Elain had gotten there, thank god - and set them down on the floor where Elain was sitting, atop a few blankets. They ate in silence for a minute or two, before Elain set down her fork, looked at Az, and said, very seriously, “let’s play a game.”

He looked at her, “a game?” she nodded. “What kind of game?”

A shrug. “I don’t know. Truth or dare?”

Azriel laughed a little at that.

She frowned. “Okay, not truth or dare,” a pause, while she thought, “what about 20 questions?”

When he didn’t object, she took it as an invitation to start. “If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?”

Azriel thought about it. “I'm not sure,” she gave him a look that said ‘bullshit, I know you have an answer’. “Maybe Turkey. Or Spain.” she tilted her head in silent question. Why? “It’s beautiful. And different. Different is good.”

They were silent again until Elain spoke again, “I’d go to Paris.” Azriel laughed. “Why are you laughing? It's the city of love!”

“I’m sorry,” he said warmly, “it's just that Paris is such a cliche answer and - 

He never got to finish, Elain interrupted him by throwing a pillow - she had brought many of those as well from her apartment - right at his head. When he looked up, her arms were crossed, her face set in a sort of defiant expression.

They moved on to another question.

_

An hour later - and many more than 20 questions - the two friends were still playing the game. Somehow in the process, the pair had moved closer together, with Elain leaning her back into Azriel’s chest, her head resting on his shoulder. 

“Next question,” she said, looking up at him. “What’s your idea of a perfect date?”

Azriel shrugged noncommittally, “nothing fancy. Maybe dinner or a movie, and then to just hang out with each other at home. Just .. enjoy each other’s company,” he said. “What about you?”

Elain stayed quiet for a moment, gathering the courage for what she was about to say. 

“Elain?” Azriel prodded. 

She took a deep breath and said softly, but still confidently, “a perfect date would be .. sitting in his living room, surrounded by candles and blankets, playing stupid party games.” 

Azriel gaped. She wasn’t serious. Was she? He hoped she was because goddamn, he didn’t know what he’d do if she was only messing with him.

Elain, however, took his silence in another fashion. She shook her head, glad that he couldn’t see tears well up in her eyes as she muttered, “forget I said anything. Next question?”

No, not next question.

Az, slowly, softly, tilted her chin towards him so he could see her face. Her eyes were brimmed with tears she’d held back, and she looked down, avoiding eye contact with him. “Elain,” he whispered, searching her face for any sign that she might not want this - him.

She looked up at him, and god, his heart jumped clear out of his chest when her eyes met his. For what seemed like an eternity, they sat there like that, Azriel cradling her face in his hands, her looking up at him through those long lashes.

He swallowed, hard, and finally, finally, brought his lips down onto hers.

He tasted like Christmas, was the only thought Elain had. He tasted like waking up and opening your presents, he tasted like making cookies and taking the first bite.

This, Elain thought, is what a kiss is supposed to be.

There were no sparks, not at all. 

No, this was a firework show, the kind that makes everyone stare at the sky even after its over.

When they finally broke apart, Elain was straddling Azriel, both breathing heavily, foreheads resting against each other. 

Then, all at once, the lights came back on. The entire apartment was lit up with the decorations Cass had put up all around the room.

Az pulled Elain close, felt her smiling against his neck.

“Merry Christmas Elain,” he whispered softly into her ear.


End file.
